Foreword

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This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 17, Steel, Subcommittee SC 21, Environment related to climate change in the iron and steel industry.

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Introduction

With the intensification of global actions to address climate change, the iron and steel industry is facing unprecedented pressure and challenges. It needs to achieve low-carbon transformation through technological innovation and industrial upgrading.

Currently, several leading steel enterprises around the world have formulated low-carbon development roadmaps, but the majority of steel companies are still in the exploratory phase. The application of low-carbon technologies is a key pathway for the green transformation of the steel industry. In recent years, a large number of low-carbon technologies have emerged within the industry. However, how to identify which low-carbon technologies have significant carbon reduction effects and whether they are suitable for enterprise application remains an urgent issue to be resolved.

Low-carbon technologies include, but are not limited to, energy efficiency improvements, the use of alternative energy sources, carbon capture and utilization technologies, and the promotion of circular economy models. Nevertheless, due to the lack of unified guidelines, there are differences in the selection and application of low-carbon technologies among countries and enterprises, which not only affects the efficiency of technology promotion but also increases the transformation costs for enterprises.

This document is formulated for the purpose of promoting the low-carbon development of the global iron and steel industry, establishing and improving the low-carbon technology system, and driving technological progress of the iron and steel industry.

This document stands in the global perspective, based on the current technology development and application status, to sort out the low-carbon technology of the iron and steel industry. It encompasses processes such as sintering, pelletizing, coking, ironmaking, steelmaking, continuous casting, rolling and other auxiliary processes. Moreover, this document puts forward the specific technology application guidance from the aspects of smelting process breakthroughs, resource recycling, process optimization and innovation, and CO₂ capture and utilization, etc. which can be used as the reference technical information for the low-carbon development of the iron and steel industry.

Smelting process breakthroughs mainly focus on the transformative innovation in key technologies which deviates from the constraints of traditional processes and equipment, including low-carbon blast furnace ironmaking technology, hydrogen-based direct reduction technology, etc. Resource recycling technologies provide the way to utilize secondary resources such as solid, liquid, and gas phase wastes generated from the iron and steel production process by efficient recycling. Process optimization and innovation introduces the way and technologies for innovating steel manufacturing processes and improving process efficiency by adjusting and optimizing the process and the proportion of raw material structure and energy consumption based on traditional processes and equipment. CO₂ capture and utilization gives the method and application of separating CO₂ from the emission sources of steel manufacturing and reducing CO₂ emissions into the atmosphere through effective solidification, or resource utilization.

This document will help steel enterprises choose low-carbon technologies that are suitable for their own conditions and future development trends. It will promote the global application of advanced green and low-carbon technologies and hold significant importance for the green and low-carbon development of the global steel industry. Due to the continuous innovation in technology, this document will also undergo regular revisions to provide the most up-to-date guidance.

It is expected that economic aspects are taken into account for the respective technology.

1 Scope

This document provides an overview of low-carbon technologies for the entire production process of the iron and steel industry, sets application in sintering, pelletizing, coking, ironmaking, steelmaking, continuous casting, rolling and other production processes.

NOTE Low-carbon technologies in the iron and steel industry are constantly evolving. This document describes processes in different stages of maturity. There is heterogeneity in the decarbonization pathways among the steel enterprises. Therefore, not all low-carbon technologies covered in this document are equally applicable to all steel plants. Low-carbon technologies in the iron and steel industry are not limited to those listed in this document. This document will be revised as appropriate as technologies evolve.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Technology classification

4.1 Overview

4.2 Breakthrough in smelting process

4.3 Process optimization and innovation

4.4 Resources recycling

4.5 CO₂ capture and utilization (CCU)

5 Technical properties

5.1 Overview of the technical properties

5.2 Smelting process breakthroughs

5.3 Process optimization and innovation

5.4 Resource recycling

5.5 CO₂ capture and utilization

Bibliography